12328/Mutant Squatters: Starlight To The Rescue

Mutant Squatters: Starlight To The Rescue
Date of Scene:	11 October 2020
Location:	66 East 11th Street, Greenwich Village
Synopsis:	Shannon and Megan pay Andrea and Nevada a visit to see if Starlight can assist the mutant children and families from the incident in Bryant Park two nights prior. Plans are made, and gummies devoured.
Cast of Characters:	Nightingale, Rage, Barghest, Pixie
Tinyplot:	Mutant Cure

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Nightingale has posed:
     The life of a popstarlet was, no doubt, a very busy one, especially when one considers adding college on top of everything else. All the same, a night or so past, Shannon left a text message with the one in question. With no initial answer, a follow-up message is sent the next day.

     <<Hey. Got a moment to talk? Have a problem of the Starlight variety.>>

     The day seemed to otherwise go on as usual, with Shannon tending to music and some weekend studies, while awaiting a reply. While she knew there was a landing area on the roof of Andrea's place, neither did she just want to drop in unannounced--particularly not as good as her security was!

Rage has posed:
A text pops back on later in the day:

<< Hey. Yeah, I can talk. I'm home. Is everything okay? >>

The popstar today is wearing a pair of snug black yoga pants and a baggy gray NYU sweater. She just got done with a run and a session with her personal trainer. Her body hurts all over and it's taking a lot of willpower to not cheat and shift and just 'fix it'. It's part of the process of being a celebrity. You have to look 'amazing' for the shows.

Sprawled out on the couch with a bottle of water, she is now catching up with all of her missed messages, squinting her eyes at the screen here and there. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Barghest has posed:
While his sister does work of the social variety, Nevada does work of the healthy variety. Which just means that he's napping in a chair over by the fireplace that's going to ward off the seasonal coolness. Lazy thing. At least his snoring is minimal at present. His own phone is in his lap, the screen off after he nodded off while scrolling through the web earlier.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon breathes a light sigh of relief as a reply reaches her. Poor Andrea must really have been swamped. She usually was fairly quick on the draw to answer, particularly where Starlight was involved. Tapping out a quick reply, she makes ready to pay a visit to her once-classmate, dressing warmly against autumn's chill, and what is likely to be a very, very quick flight.

     <<For me, yes. For others, not so much. I'll explain when I arrive. Okay to use Jay's landing platform?>>

     On goes a pair of flannel-lined dark blue jeans, some stylish but comfortable black boots, a cream-colored turtleneck, and a traditional cable-knit sweater on over that. She's got her hair tied back, her red and white 'Where's Waldo' cap on, and the flight goggles that Andrea had gifted her with last Christmas.

Rage has posed:
<< Gotcha. We're just hanging out and watching TV. >>

"We have incoming. Shannon is on her way over." Andrea says to Nevada, though she raises her brows up as she notices he is sleeping. Rolling her eyes, she hops to her feet and makes her way over to the backdoors to open them up and let the fresh air in, and to unlock it for her arrival.

From there, she heads to her kitchen to snag some bottles of water and puts them into a bowl of ice in the middle of the living room table.

Nightingale has posed:
     The flight over is, thankfully, uneventful. It's clear blue skies and crisp autumn air, with fall colors at their height. It's a simple pleasure that Shannon can't resist taking a few extra moments en route to enjoy, allowing herself a smile at the sheer beauty and majesty of Nature. Perhaps she'd have to take her time on the way back to the mansion, and enjoy the sights a little more thoroughly.

     The first hint Andrea might have of her arrival is the sound of large feathered wings beating the air, in a pattern that is just a little bit 'off' from Jay's. A delicate hint of her perfume is next, with soft floral and woodsy notes throughout. There's a knock on the back door, followed by the sight of a be-goggled Shannon peeking in. "Hey! Sorry to drop in on you like this, but something happened a couple nights ago that you might want to know about...."

Barghest has posed:
He must be a light sleeper, because Nevada's eye cracks open as Andrea speaks. "Eh? Oh," He mumbles around a yawn as he gives himself a long stretch, long enough that it about dislodges him from his seat along with several noisy pops of his back. Scratching a hand against his chest, he pulls himself up onto his feet and squints towards one of the windows to try and catch his reflection. He tousles his hair into a slightly better mop - it needs cut badly - before he stiffly walks towards the kitchen.

He doesn't disrupt her hospitality bowl but rummages in the fridge for a Coke. It's not long before Shannon arrives and he raises a hand in a wave as she lets herself in. "Heya. Lemme know if you want snacks since I'm standing here." He's already in the kitchen. It's efficient.

Rage has posed:
Glancing over at the sound of Shannon's voice, Andrea gives a wave of her hand. "Hey there." Giving a stretch, she reaches over to grab one of the bottles and twists it open.

"Nevada, can you snag some fruit snacks maybe? I kinda got an itch for some gummies." They're soft and delicious.

"You fly all the way over?"

Nightingale has posed:
     "It was that or my Vespa, and as much as I love that bike, I didn't feel like dealing with leaf-peepers in a traffic jam. Besides," Shannon remarks, with a wry smile, sliding her goggles up on top of her head. "...I could do with the extra exercise." Reaching for one of the bottles of water, she offers Andrea a smile of gratitude, twisting the top open and taking a healthy slug.

     "Nah, I'm good, Nevada, thanks!" However, there is a very damning, tell-tale growling in her general vicinity that says otherwise. It is no doubt a certainty that the winged teen will never be known for her poker face!

     Looking back over at Andrea, she takes a moment to down a bit more water, catching her breath from the flight over. "Well, getting down to the brass tacks of it, two nights ago, Mr. Proudstar dragged me out for a bit of recon down by Bryant Park in Midtown. There's a condemned building down there that had some squatters in it. Mutants, all of them. We ran into four little kids that were getting picked on pretty hard by some armed thugs. Yeah, guns, too. It got a little messy. Megan was there, too, and..." She frowns a little bit. "I'm not entirely sure of their given name, but I do know the code name 'Winter Soldier'. Not the first time we've run into him, probably won't be the last. At the very least, he appears to be an ally. He was at the Avengers and X-men basketball game, too. But anyhow...."

     Shannon leans up against the wall, gathering her thoughts. "Long and short of it is, we stepped in. Turns out those kids, two of them have folks that are in pretty bad straits, and two of them didn't have any family at all. And that building is due to come down in a few days' time."

Barghest has posed:
Nevada rummages in the cabinets for the indicated gummies that are barely able to be considered related to fruit. No doubt he hears the growl, and ultimately just decides to bring the entire box back to the living room and setting it down on the coffee table.

"There's a whole building of people?" He says with a grimace as he sits himself back down. "Figures the city wouldn't care about squatters, so long as no dead bodies ended up on the report. Happens all of the time in the areas that people would rather pave over than fix."

Rage has posed:
"That's sad to hear. Did you find out how they got into that situation in the first place?" The story sometimes is just as important. There are some people you want to help, but you also just /can't/.

"Also, do you have the address so that we can look into it? I am pretty sure there is a ton of open buildings in Mutant Town at the moment they can probably stay at while my team at Starlight can vet them and ensure they're okay. If anything, I have a friend at CPS who is good at handling mutant children cases."

Nightingale has posed:
     "There wasn't a whole lot of time for stories. Two of the kids said they had family that was out looking for food at the time of the attack. The other two kids had nobody, and we were told they sort of got taken in by their friends. I'm not sure just how full the building is, either."

     The mention of CPS get a bit of a frown from Shannon, her fingers drumming lightly on the side of her water bottle. "Megan seemed to be there a bit sooner than Mr. Proudstar and I were, so I don't know if maybe she'd have a little more info. And CPS? Those kids have little enough as it is. CPS won't go splitting any families up, will they?"

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn had been on the same wavelength as Shannon, but had arrived later, shortly after sending a hurried text to Andrea and Nevada about mutant squatters. So e ten minutes after, she comes rapping softly on the door. "Helloo? It's Megan!"

Barghest has posed:
"I got it." Nevada says as he once more pulls himself out of a chair and heads for the door to let in Megan, leaving Andrea and Shannon to chat in the meantime.

"Hey, come on in. Shannon was just giving Andrea the quick run down of what happened with the kids." He says quietly to Megan with a smile and then gestures her past to join the others. He'll follow along slowly afterward.

Rage has posed:
"It depends on the situation, Shannon. If the parents are let's same for example tied up on drugs, or abusive, whatever the case may be, CPS may take the kids and put them with a foster family. It's not a perfect system by any means, but if it means getting children off the street and into a bed by people who care about them, it's better than the alternative."

Andrea straightens up at the knocking, glancing over towards the door and giving a wave of her hand. "Hey Megan." She calls over with a smile, then takes another sip of her water.

"But, at least someone in Starlight can reach out and talk to them all and get a feel for the situation. The kids though could also benefit from maybe going to Xavier's you know."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon looks about to reply to Andrea, but then there's the knocking at the back door. Turning her head, she smiles a bit as she sees Megan there. "Heya, Megan," she calls out. "I was just telling Andrea about that incident we were all at a couple nights ago. There anything you can tell her that maybe I haven't?"

     Turning back to Andrea, she nods slowly. "I did think of that, but before I go and bring this to Mr. Summers or Miss Frost, I'd like to be able to say further options were explored as well, ya know? Cover as many bases as possible."

     Nevada gets something of a sheepish grin as she goes for some of the gummies, glad for the quick energy offered by the sugary treat. And, as it turns out, she has something of a sweet tooth, a healthy handful of the candies disappearing from the box in short order! "Okay, so maybe I lied about being a bit peckish."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn steps in and looks around, smiling brightly at everyone, "Heey! looks like Shan already brought you up to speed! Soo is there anything we can do to help them? They don't have much time, looks like that the old hotel is condemned and Gonna be destroyed in a few days!"

Barghest has posed:
"CPS isn't terrible. By and large, they're just people trying to do the right thing and make the best of a horrible situation." Says Nevada once he's back in his seat. "It's a lot of damned it you do, damned if you don't. Believe me, I've seen some things. Speaking to substance abuse, it's far better for a kid to have to adapt to a new family for awhile so their folks can get clean than be the one finding their parents dead from an overdose."

"Still, this may be more of a case where the parents just need some better opportunities to be able to provide and need help getting going. That's the common precursor that leads to the rest. The trick is breaking that cycle. Sounds like Starlight is in a good spot to help and at least get more info to pass on to authorities if needed. Or... ya know, other parties that I totally don't know about."

Rage has posed:
"Starlight is really just a stepping stone. They find resources for people to help get out of a bad situation and offer counseling services. They can probably put them in a hotel for a few nights while things get figured out. I'll make a few calls."

Andrea reaches for a bag of gummies and tugs it open with her fingers. She loves these fruity rings. "So what is this about an attack? Mutant haters? Friends of Humanity? Was it on that level or just general dickheadness?"

Nightingale has posed:
     "Bad enough for a federal agent to make a few arrests, let's just say that much." Shannon munches away on a few of the gummies as well, letting out a little purring sound of delight. She loved the little peach-flavored gummy rings, a restorative to the spirit as well as something to calm the appetite!

     "Like I said, a couple of the thugs had firearms and took some potshots at us. Seems that Winter Soldier is a federal agent of some sort, not sure what organization. He was acting as an ally. We're not sure if the thugs were from any known organization or if they were just general asshats."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn oohs, "Gummies! sounds good to me!" she beams as she finds a seat, only too happy to accept sweet treats, "Well it's a relief they can fall back on Starlight, it's something to get them back on their feet.." she shrugs, "Like Shan said, a group of armed thugs, maybe just a gang? Don't think they were a high profile group like FOH."

With a shrugs, she munches thoughtfully in squishy chewy gummies. Not like she needs a sugar rush. "Yeaah, didn't know that guy was a federal agent. he was sure scary when he's mad but its a relief that he's on our side at least."

She bites her lip, pondering, "Hmm they were mutants with obvious mutations so it'd be hard for them to find work in a place like that. Moving them to mutant town might make it easier for them to integrate into society."

Barghest has posed:
"People in bad spots tend to owe bad people things they can't give." Nevada says, not sounding too concerned. "But if people are beating on them and taking shots at others who interfere, then this sounds like something professionals need to deal with. Gangs may be involved. Child Protection can help with getting the kids to safety and that'll also deter the demo until everyone is secure. If a fed was arresting people, then I'd say organizations like that may already be involved."

Rage has posed:
Nodding her head, Andrea looks to be agreeing with Nevada. "Yeah, hopefully they're arrested and will sit in jail for awhile. Maybe Sam can help the adults find jobs in the meantime since he's pretty well networked in Mutant Town. But CPS isn't a bad idea though if it means getting kids off the streets while their parents get their business in order and safe homes settled."

Popping a chewy ring into her mouth, she gives a quick one-two bite before swallowing it back. "I can at least call Starlight and put them in the right direction. I'm no longer involved in a ton of the day to day operations since Starlight merged with X-Corp. But I do keep tabs on it since it was my brain child. Soon as the Clinic is opened, I'll be working on something new."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon nods, breathing a distinct sigh of relief. "That's about all we can do, really. Pisses me off when innocents get bullied, but when it's kids... somehow, it's even worse than usual." Popping another gummy into her mouth, she looks a bit on the thoughtful side, glancing around at each in turn. "I've got a tendency to run into people, so I could keep an eye out for our ally, see what he's got in the works on this situation so we're not all working at loggerheads here. Probably a good idea to loop in Mr. Summers and Miss Frost too, at this point. Thoughts?"

Rage has posed:
"I'm not a fan of cops in general, so I don't care about any fed." Andrea says. "Seeing how they shot up my concert, including innocent people just for being mutants. They can suck a duck." She is bluntly honest and straight to the core with her feelings.

"Same Feds who didn't give a shit about us being shot in the street by Sentinels and gave a half-assed apology and did the bare minimum of holding anyone accountable. It was a real wake up call for me. Really pissed me off."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn nods to Shannon, "Yeah, we've done what we can..I just feel bad for mutants like that who can't hide from the world easily..Not that they should have to in the first place but it's hard." she shrugs, "It wouldn't hurt to let the,m know, especially if we want to see if they can be enrolled in Xavier's.."

Barghest has posed:
"Mm..." Nevada begins to make a noise as his fingertips drum on the arm of the chair. "Word of unwanted advice. Don't confuse someone who helps in the moment for an ally, especially when their paycheck is significantly higher than your own. Assuring a mutual goal is great, but it doesn't mean your next ones will align. Government employees are even more unreliable. You never know their end game."

As for teachers, he remains neutral and just shrugs. He doesn't know them.

Nightingale has posed:
     "It's not the first time he's helped out, though. But I hear you, Nevada." Shannon sighs, running her fingers through her hair. "People can be real asshats. I don't want to lose hope entirely, though. Even if in the end, we still have to prepare for the worst somewhere in the backs of our minds." This was one big, fat mess, one that left her furling her wings around her in a feathery cocoon, pensive and quiet.

     "All we can do is try. Otherwise, we've already done most of what we can on our own."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn sighs and nods, "You got that right, Shan. But for sure we should let Mr. Summers know. In the meantime,hopefully starlight can help get them out of there in time." she finishes eating her pouch of gummies before climbing to her feet again, "Anyhoo, I have a job to get to, good seeing you all again!"

Nightingale has posed:
     "Maybe you could tap him on the shoulder then, Megan, and bring him up to speed? Let him know he can contact me if he needs something clarified, let him know what we've been doing on this. And if you can't find him, Miss Frost should certainly know. Especially if the school may wind up getting involved."

     Shannon purses her lips slightly, her brows furrowed. "Got a little digging to do, maybe a call or two to make. And let's hope I don't get into too much hot water for this one..."

     Uh-oh.